RE: [CPF0000] H2G2 movie

[rick.baird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Jim,

I really tend to agree.  The details are what made the original radio and
tv series great (it sure wasn't the special effects in the tv series ;),
and I'm not sure it will translate well to the big screen.

The plot, while funny and interesting in it's own right, was little more
than a vehicle to introduce the historical (past and future) absurd
pontifications and characters via the guide.

This is why it took so long to get the film started.  From what i've read
on the web, Doug Adams knew this, and re-wrote the script (and others tried
as well) many many times, because the original stories couldn't be jammed
into a 100 minute movie.  Towards the end, he too realized and even
embraced the idea of having new and possibly wildly different material to
make a movie work.  For that reason, I wouldn't watch the movie thinking
you'd see a faithful rendering of either the radio, tv series or novels.
Adams' business partner and friend is an executive producer, has seen the
script and says that it will 'look' like a movie, but will allow Adams'
underlying message to breathe.

They've probably come up with a good ending to this movie, that wasn't in
any of the previous incarnations, and will probably only need to mine the
depths of one of the books - probably the first.  This leave room for
sequels, if this one is a hit.

I too was introduced to it via the PBS rerun of the BBC series.  I have the
whole thing on DVD (before that, VHS) too, and try to watch it once a year
or so.  I think the series was originally broadcast on BBC as 12 - 20
minute episodes (30 with commercials), and on PBS (no commercials) as 8
half hours.   Both spent a lot of time re-capping the previous episode
before getting on with new stuff.

The DVD is set up a little different.   It's still episodic, but each are a
little longer, i think, without re-capping previous episodes at the
beginning of each new one.

Rick

<Jim said, in part>
I'd rather see an updated TV series or serial than a movie.  They should
probably get through the third book if they want to have any sort of
conclusion, and that's too much story for a movie.  The coolness of the
story is in the individual segments and absurd details.  Anything that gets
cut out would cause the movie to suffer.  I was introduced to HHG by a PBS
rerun of the TV series.  It was fun to watch the episodes once a week and
get excited for the next part of the story.